US media on Khashoggi murder report: killers should be called killers

After the new US administration secretly lifted the intelligence report on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, in which it was said that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, approved an operation to arrest Khashoggi or kill him, several American newspapers addressed the report and comment on it.

The American newspaper “Washington Post” said: “Mohammed bin Salman is guilty of committing the murder, and Biden should not let him escape his action,” adding that “the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia during the Biden era may seem the same. just like before the Trump administration when the kingdom was treated as an important ally. For the United States in the Middle East. “

He added: “The new administration has confirmed that it will continue to sell” defensive “weapons to Saudi Arabia and help defend it from attacks by Iran and its proxies, although Bin Salman may not receive calls from Mr. Biden or be invited to Washington. But bin Salman will remain involved. With high-ranking officials, as he recently received a phone call from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. ”

The Washington Post also indicated that “there is a pragmatic case for this policy, since Mohammed bin Salman remains the most powerful person in the Arab Gulf region, and if he succeeds his father as king, as expected, he can remain in this position”. for decades, “adding that” it’s still the United States. It is up to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to achieve stability in the world oil market and to help in the fight against terrorism. “

“During the Mohammed bin Salman era, the kingdom relaxed some restrictions on women, cracked down on extremist clerics, and became friendlier to” Israel. “In recent weeks, Mohammed bin Salman tried to appease Biden by releasing some prisoners. prominent figures, including US citizens, and ended the blockade imposed on the neighboring State of Qatar.

However, the newspaper claimed that “Biden will not allow one ruler to sow instability across the Middle East in recent years, and has led the most severe crackdown on dissent in modern Saudi history, with impunity,” adding : “It is a risky road.” that the current administration adopts in the absence of impunity. “Any evidence that Mohammed bin Salman is willing to radically change his regime.”

The newspaper noted that, “at a minimum, the administration should demand that, as a condition for normal relations, the engineer of the Khashoggi’s assassination and other human rights crimes,” said Saud Al-Qahtani, one of Muhammad bin Salman’s close associates. in the CIA report – be brought to justice. If the device is not dismantled. “The criminal that Mohammed bin Salman used against Khashoggi, there will be more victims.”

Biden does not punish Mohammed bin Salman

CNN, in turn, stated that despite promises to punish top Saudi leaders during his election campaign, Biden refused to impose sanctions on the person whom US intelligence has identified as responsible for the murder of Khashoggi, the prince. heir Mohammed bin Salman, adding: “Choosing not to punish the latter adequately. Mubasher clearly highlights how decision-making becomes more complicated when a candidate becomes president, and shows the difficulty of parting ways with a troublesome ally in a region. conflictive.

“The relationship with Riyadh itself seems so valuable that the Biden administration cannot completely abandon it by punishing the man who is seen as leading the kingdom,” he added. State Department officials said the Biden administration made clear the issue of not reversing the existing policy between the two countries because the security relationship is very important.

In many ways, these calculations are the same the Trump administration took into account when it decided not to punish Mohammed bin Salman, according to CNN. He added: “Officials from the Trump and Biden administrations have privately admitted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a regional power parallel to Iran, making any attempt to move away from it nearly impossible.”

CNN quoted Dennis Ross, the former US special envoy to the Middle East, that “it is difficult to imagine any problem in the region in which Saudi association and support does not play an important role.”

In turn, the “New York Times” newspaper indicated that Biden would not punish the Saudi crown prince for fear of a breakdown in relations between Washington and Riyadh.

He noted that “the decision will disappoint the human rights community and members of the Democratic Party who complained during the Trump administration about the failure of the United States to hold Mohammed bin Salman accountable.”

Senior officials in the new US administration indicated, according to the newspaper, that President Biden considered that “the diplomatic cost of directly punishing the Saudi crown prince is too high.”

The New York Times added that, according to Biden’s aides, “practically speaking, bin Salman will not be invited to the United States any time soon.” The newspaper noted that “the most difficult issue being discussed within the administration is how to deal with the crown prince himself. As it is rare to impose a ban on world leaders, while a study of administration officials found that the United States is he has moved against opponents such as Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Kim Jong Un. ” The leader of North Korea; Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela; and Robert Mugabe, former Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. No one has acted against the leaders of countries that were main allies. “

Requirement to name the murderer and impose sanctions

Regarding the “Wall Street Journal”, its editorial titled “The Punishment of Khashoggi”, under this title, wrote: “The publication of the Biden administration on Friday of the intelligence report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is morally unhealthy. that furthers the interests of the United States or even human rights in the long term. That is another matter. The United States has decided not to punish Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi defense minister, and perhaps the next king. “

According to the newspaper, Democrats and their media describe the decision as inappropriate, “but it appears that the Biden administration believes that this would lead to a more serious cut in relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, which would help opponents in Tehran, Moscow and Beijing … Trump chose to ignore the report, “But his support for the Saudis and” Israel, “and his opposition to Iranian nuclear ambitions, helped pave the way for the historic” Abraham “agreements between” Israel “and the Arabian countries. The Biden Administration should think twice before deporting the Saudis, who are few friends of the United States in a dangerous part of the world. “

Foreign Policy magazine, for its part, said the US administration is not expected to impose sanctions on the Saudi crown prince in an apparent attempt to preserve the US relationship with the Saudi royal family. But human rights defenders have condemned the Biden administration’s decision not to attack the crown prince personally.

“Avoiding the imposition of these sanctions on Mohammed bin Salman would undermine the credibility of the sanctions imposed on other perpetrators,” the magazine quoted Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy in the Arab World Now, which Khashoggi founded.

In addition, the magazine “The Atlantic” entitled “Murderers should be called murderers and say it directly to their face”, and said that “the most important questions that the intelligence report did not answer are political and moral”, asking “How A review of the criteria that govern the relationship between the two countries? ”And what did the White House talk about through its spokesperson?

After the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy, bin Salman can be prosecuted

The Atlantic also went on to say, “First, any possibility of Saudi Arabia punishing itself must be excluded. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy in the true sense of modernity, and Bin Salman is the law. Let us remember all the legal disputes. in the United States on whether the Ministry of Justice can impeach an incumbent president? The crown prince cannot sue himself. The absolute monarchy is a terrible system of government for this very reason. If Bin Salman were one day in a position to sue him, it would be after the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy, in which case he would have much more serious cases. From the Khashoggi case to accountability. “

“So let’s think about more realistic options. The United States could appeal to the 85-year-old ruler of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, to remove his son from the hierarchy of succession. This option only brings us one millimeter closer to reality.” said the magazine. additional.

He noted that “in the nearly four years since bin Salman formally assumed the office of crown prince, he has ruthlessly cut off the legs of anyone who is considered his competitor. Among the most prominent of these same princes who have served well as alternatives to bin Salman. He also marginalized and arrested his predecessor, Muhammad bin Nayef, the former crown prince and the man chosen for Western spy agencies. Former intelligence chief and diplomat Turki bin Faisal was never close to the throne, but he also found himself an outcast in the outer circles of power. Bin Salman spent his government eliminating his rivals and the assassination of Khashoggi was part of that process. “

And he stressed that “the war in the Saudi-Iranian power in Yemen must end, which is a humanitarian catastrophe partly committed by American weapons as soon as possible. One of the ways to punish Mohammed bin Salman is to pressure him to allow it. end to Iranian victory. ”

He stressed that “murderers should be called murderers, often and squarely in the face. In the case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United States is not for the first or last time trapped in a miserable situation and that the end of this vile episode will probably be shaking hands with an official: “An American would again be a fatal person.”

In a related context, “The Intercept” magazine published that the US measure, which included visa restrictions for 76 Saudi nationals “participated in threatening dissidents abroad,” is evidence that the Biden administration wants to maintain a cooperative association with the Saudi leadership. noting that this is likely to enrage human rights activists and members of Congress who have argued that the crown prince should be personally responsible for the operation that killed and massacred a Saudi journalist, who was also a resident of the United States. At the Saudi consulate like a turkey